Fighting Whispers
by SeleneAkai
Summary: It's been 2 years since Percy and Annabeth broke up. Percy is a teacher at Muskgrove Academy when he discovers a fellow teacher is a monster! A chain of events drags him back to Camp Half-Blood where he meets Annabeth again for the first time since the broke up. Suddenly both of them are wondering how they broke up and what is the voice inside their heads trying to keep them apart?
1. Chapter 1

__Hey, Selene Akai here, just sayin' hello and welcoming you to this fan fiction. Get this: I've already finished this! This is the first fan fiction I ever _actually _finished! So, the entire thing will be uploaded, eventually. In the meantime, some quick specs:

_*OFF CANNON! I wrote this before I even knew Riordan would bless us with a sequel series_

_*The gods are super out of character. Get over it._

_*I was not smart enough to think of the Percy Jackson story, and therefore do not own it._

__And that's about it. Enjoy!

* * *

_Breathe Percy, just breathe_, I told myself when I met the new algebra teacher: Bobby Dupree. He was a total monster. If I could just get him in a closet, or isolate him in his classroom…wait. Why was he here? Monsters only hide in schools to get students and this is a high school. There shouldn't be any demigods in high school! Maybe there was one who was already claimed here…it is a private school. Whatever, this guy needed to get killed. I hadn't touched Riptide in about a year, I missed the action.

In case you're wondering, I teach a new elective at Musgrove Prep titled: Classic Mythology (Greek and Latin "mythology"). How did I end up being a teacher? Hades if I know. I hadn't come across any students showing the tell-tale signs of ADHD and dyslexia. I hadn't sensed any Mist, and I'd think Chiron or Grover would've told me if there was a demigod at my school. Whoa- monster alert!

"Hello, Mr. Jackson," this guy had a creepy-deep voice.

"Mr. Dupree. I trust you've settled in nicely." I put on my 'adult' voice.

"Yes I have. Good day, Mr. Jackson." He walked away. I shivered. That guy was going down.

"Mr. Dupree!" I called after him.

"Yes?"

"When is your planning period?"

"Fourth period."

"Mine too. We'll have to eat lunch together some time. Bye now." I thought my day wasn't going to get any stranger. Then my fifth period showed up. Austin Faire was in that class.

"Wassup Mr. Jacksonian?!" He skateboarded into my room. I didn't really care. Austin was a lot like me, except he was good at avoiding fights instead of throwing the first punch and had attended this school since around the trip into the Labryinth. He was crazy though.

"A pop quiz," I grinned in spite of myself. I'd been dying to give one of those quizzes where all the smart kids go crazy because they don't understand why all the answers are the same and the "dumb" ones figure out that they're all B. I had even written "Classic Mythology" on the board with a capital and underlined "A". Half the class was going to fail. Ha, this is hilarious.

"WHAT?! Oh. Or should I say, A?" Austin grinned at me. That's why he's my favorite student. "So, how's life?"

"Life is…life," I shrugged.

"Are you gonna say what's wrong?"

"One: what makes you think something's wrong and two: sit down and stop being nosy."

"I know people Mr. J, and you are unhappy about something."

"Number two," I replied. He sat as the class came in. "Come on, take your seats, there's a pop quiz."

"Losing sleep?" I ignored Austin. "Mom sick? Baby sister mad at you?" The bell rang and I passed out the quizzes. Austin didn't even read the questions and handed it in. I sat on my stool and wrote a zero. "What?"

"Read the questions and learn the answers. I know you don't know."

"I DON'T KNOW EIRTHER!" Ah Mary, my hamster. She works and works and works but never actually gets anywhere. She can spit out information but say x=y instead of y=x and she'll break down.

"Wow. Someone didn't pay attention in class," my best student and second favorite, Bella, handed in her paper. "Clever trick Mr. J." She smiled at me. Bella was absolutely in love with mythology. This class was nothing to her- she already knew all of it. Maybe she was the demigod. No, she sat way too still. She might have a heart attack of joy if I told her the truth about me and everything else though.

"I got it!" Austin shouted as everyone else tried to figure out what the hell was going on. He got back up, I added on the one and the zero to make his zero a one hundred and he whispered: "it's your girlfriend." I froze. "I got it didn't I? You broke-up, right?"

"List all thirteen Olympians," I said sternly.

"I thought there were only twelve!" Austin groaned.

"Are there? List them and explain why there are twelve."

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades," I said Bella dying in the background. "Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hermes, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus and Aphrodite."

"AGH!" Bella was practically foaming at the mouth. "Can I tell him why he's wrong?"

"Go for it. I think you and me are the only ones who know the answer since everyone thinks this is a BS class."

"It is." She replied.

"Only if you pay attention."

"Right. Anyways: first off Hades isn't an Olympian. You forgot Hera and technically there are 13 because, according to some accounts, Hestia- goddess of the Hearth sits stoking the fire in the Olympian Council and she gave up her seat of power to Dionysus because she wanted to keep the peace- I forget why there was going to be a fight. Right?" I gave a thumbs up.

"Good girl. Anyone who was paying attention just heard an answer to one of the questions." The whole class groaned. "We've been here a whole year guys, come on. This is first semester stuff." I deducted from Austin's quiz.

"Again?"

"Shh. And obviously you didn't know the answer to that question. You gotta learn to use your clues and learn from them man. No be quiet, everyone is trying to take a quiz on last semester." The quizzes slowly started coming in, as if my words had triggered their memories.

"Definitely your girlfriend," Austin muttered, putting his head down. His whole table was shaking from him being antsy. Freaking Austin. Yes, Annabeth and I had broken up after…five years…and yes I'd bought a ring but I realized that we weren't mean to be together. It was constantly playing in the back of my mind after I bought the ring 'this isn't right, this isn't right' and apparently Annabeth had been hearing the same thing so we agreed it was break-up time. It's been almost two years, why was I even thinking about this now? We'd been friendly our last summer at camp and I haven't seen her since. Was that it? We were really good friends-I guess that's what's bothering me. I'd call her when I got home. Why did I still have that ring anyway?

"Okay, I'm bored, time's up. I guess I need to go over all of this. _Again._ Hand it in, come on." Once they were all in I tacked on, "oh and in case you didn't notice every single answer was 'A'. It's even on the board."

"What?!" Bella shouted in alarm. "Fifteen was _so_ 'C'!" I looked at the question. _Who is considered the greatest Greek hero? A) Hercules B) Dionysus C) Percy Jackson D) Romulus_

"Okay, I'll give you that one because you picked me. But quit being such a kiss- brownnoser." She raised an eyebrow.

"That's you?"

"Of course it's me, why else would you pick it?" She blushed and sat down. What? I spent the rest of the class period re-teaching basic concepts in mythology. This was just sad, I mean, at least I tried in school. These kids, come on, they weren't even drawing on their knowledge from movies. _Who is Hercules' father_? You'd think they'd all put _B) Zeus_ but some people were shouting out Hermes and Ares and Hera! Come on! Even the completely inaccurate Disney cartoon taught you that!

At the end of class, Bella lingered. "Question?" I asked her. She opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"No. See you Mr. Jackson." She sped out the classroom. Maybe she _was_ a half-blood. Maybe even a Roman- no she's too sweet for that. She'd have to be a Greek. "This is too much for one day," I muttered to myself. In sixth period I emphasized how easy this quiz was supposed to be. "Only one person got a one hundred and that was a technicality I won't accept from anyone else. Austin almost made it but I asked him a random question he couldn't answer so I deducted. Please don't disappoint me." They did. "Oh come on! You guys, we went over all this- why can't you at least realize all the answers were A?!"

"But…the answer to 15 is C," Jessica said with confusion.

"You're the second person to say that. Why? It says Percy Jackson! Why am I the greatest Greek hero?!" I'm not saying I'm not but hey- she's not supposed to know that.

"Wait, you're Percy Jackson? Oh my gods!-d. God. Oh. My. God." I stared at her for a second.

"Whatever. Let's go over these questions." After the bell rang Jessica ran up to my desk and screamed. "Why?"

"You're P-P-PERCY JACKSON! AH! Oh my gods!"

"Jessica, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the Manhattan Battle- duh! And the Greece Battle where you fought the Giants!"

"What do you know about any of that?!" Huh?

"I'm a Daughter of Aphrodite and Bella is a daughter of Hermes."

"Seriously? I can't see it."

"She learned how to control her ADHD when she'd not fighting. You're Percy Jackson! Me and Bella are such huge fans!"

"Stop! Calm down."

"My swordsmanship blows, help me out?"

"Are there any other demigods at this school?"

"Not that I know of."

"Do either of you have Mr. Dupree?"

"No."

"Good. Stay away from him." She was about to start jumping, I could see her shaking. "Go to your dorm!" She giggled and bounced off. I shook my head. How did Will deal with the fan girls? (Will Solace, Son of Apollo, had become a world famous recording artist).

I ended up not calling Annabeth, something told me not to. Meanwhile, over the next three days, Bella was oddly quiet in class (she was usually the resident know-it-all, our own, personal Hermione) and Jessica couldn't get enough of me. "Bella please tell Jessica to leave me alone! She's driving me nuts! I'd give her detention but I think that's what she wants."

"Sorry about her Mr. Jackson. She's just so sure you're _the_ Percy Jackson- who's just a story! A modern fairy tale!"

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"Well, other than the fact that it's a story…come on, Percy Jackson- a school teacher?" Ow. "Not to mention he's supposed to be a serious hottie." Ow. "And you're not even ADHD or dyslexic. Austin's more likely than you."

"Oh, so you think he's hot?" She shrugged. I asked for that. "But Austin isn't ADHD or"

"He's never been tested but come on, I've known him since first grade. He's a total spaz." She cut me off. "And about Jess, don't mind her. She just loves the story because she thinks the hero's relationship with the Daughter of Athena best friend is super cute." Ugh. Stupid Daughter of Aphrodite.

"Me and Annabeth broke-up two years ago! I mean, come on, the whole camp knew."

"She didn't believe it- wait. 'Me'? As in you? As in, you really _are_ the Son of Poseidon?! Ah!" Oh gods. "Seriously? I'm standing in the presence of the greatest hero ever? The guy who saved Olympus twice?!"

"Okay, that's enough talk about my ex-life as an RPG player," I said as the next class came in. "Get to class."

"BYE MR. JACKSON!" she ran out screaming. I shook my head. Although it was pretty awesome that I was legendary. Still, there were more important things going on. Like Mr. Dupree. And Austin. Oh crap. I dashed to my computer and checked Austin's schedule. He had Mr. Dupree sixth period. I had rethought my slaying plans, I couldn't do anything without arousing suspicion, but now that I knew there were at least two, possibly three half-bloods here, I couldn't just stand by idly. I didn't have a choice- I needed to alert Chiron. After sixth period I went to my personal rooms, pulled back some curtains and made a rainbow. "Chiron, Half-Blood Hill,"

"Hello? Percy? How are you?" The old centaur looked just as I remembered him. And suddenly I felt guilty for not visiting.

"I'm alright. I'm pretty sure there's a monster teacher at the school I'm at- Musgrove Academy- where Bella and Jessica go to school. And I think there's an unclaimed demigod in my class."

"In your class? But you're a high school teacher, aren't you?" my trainer looked confused.

"He was never diagnosed with the demigod disease, but it would make sense if he had it. Some demigods are going to slip through the cracks Chiron, we both knew that when I made my request."

"Hm, alright Percy. The semester ends in two months. I'll send Grover."

"Isn't he a little old to"

"To pretend to be a student, not to pretend to be an assistant teacher. There's already a satyr checking out the 6th graders."

"Really?" Nobody tells me anything.

"Yes. And he believes he's also found a demigod. You wouldn't happen to be able to bring them to camp this summer, would you? The vans will be full from all the demigods flying in and you know the way."

"I'd be happy to. If Austin really is a demigod, I'm curious to see whose kid he is." Chiron smiled.

"Wonderful. I'll see you at Camp."

"Wait, what do I do about the monster? I can't just turn my coworker to dust."

"The Mist, Percy."

"Will the Mist find a replacement teacher?"

"Yes."

"Oh. No problem. See ya Chiron."

"Hold on- I've heard some rumors about," he looked embarrassed to be asking, "you and Annabeth."

"Seriously? We broke-up two years ago."

"Really? Yes, I do think I remember that. That's odd. Oh well, so long Percy! I look forward to seeing you again!"

"Goodbye," he cut the connection. I ignored all the constant commentary about my girlfriend-ex, I mean- and focused on getting Mr. Dupree, alone, and slaying him. And the fact that Grover was coming! I hadn't seen him in awhile either.

* * *

And there's chapter one! Are you intrigued? Remember, I already finished it and I'll update regularly. It's really short, maybe four more chapters if I cut it up, so if you want to follow it...or review. reviews work. Um, now if you want to do both...or don't. It clutters my inbox and no one reads my Tumblr but I still blog my butt off so you know I'll continue to post on a story with zero , I'm gonna stop babbling now...bye.

~ Selene Akai


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, Selene Akai here! I've gotten so really good reviews, and I feel good about that, so here's the next chapter. I'm going to put up the next one too, just in case this feels like filler. Thanks Rick Riordan, for your inspirational characters!

Recap: Monster at the school Percy teaches at and Grover is coming to sniff out the half-blood he was after

* * *

Slaying Mr. Dupree turned out to be really easy. But his replacement teacher was hot. Miss Green was a brand new teacher who made her freshmen drool. She was a long-legged, dark haired, classic American beauty. I wouldn't have minded her being my assistant teacher. Alas, Grover showed up with her and informed me that she was a naiad in disguise. "Sorry Percy."

"It's whatever G-man. There are plenty more like her- and mortal. Now it's time for you to be an assistant teacher. You get to talk about those nature spirits you love so much. Hey," I added on in a lower voice, "where are your horns?"

"Wig," he replied quietly.

"Oh. It's a good wig." He sat on a desktop in the front of the room. I sat on my stool. "How are things back at camp, Lord of the Wild?"

"Peaceful. I mean, the Ares kids still love hurting people and Capture the Flag is always fun, but it's kinda boring without all the action."

"Boring is a nice change of pace. I've almost died enough times, I think. But don't worry, Apollo and Ares will get in a fight and the demigods will have to do the footwork, and it'll be exciting again." Grover laughed. "I wasn't kidding."

"I know, but nothing beats saving the world. You have to admit, it was a lot of fun."

"I'm sorry, you enjoyed the Labryinth?"

"You know what I mean!" I sighed. He was right.

"Slaying Dupree was the most exciting thing I've done in awhile. I don't really get attacked that much anymore- I haven't been since the break-up." There was no need to clarify, I'd only been in one relationship. "And _don't_ ask what happened. If one more person asks me that…" the bell rang and students came pouring in the room.

"Who's curly top?" Matt, one of my odder students, asked.

"This is Mr. Grover Underwood. He's my teacher assistant, he's going to be observing and teaching you kids." Grover waved.

"Can't wait to teach you some mythology!"

"He'll be teaching you about all sorts of creatures. Ready, set, go!"

"What?!" I was grinning in spite of myself. "Now?"

"Yes, they need to learn about satyrs who couldn't get a naiad girlfriend for their lives!" He glared at me.

"Just toss me into the minotaur's mouth why don't you?" He muttered and all the kids raised their eyebrows. "Little bit of mythology humor…children." He glared at me one more time and I winked. "Okay, uh, satyrs-or fauns in latin, for those of you who read _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_; naiads, minotaurs, Pegasus, unicorns, dragons, they are all what?" I watched as Grover struggled through first period trying not to laugh. "Students are evil!" I shrugged.

"They're just kids man. If I recall correctly, we were worse."

"But we were trying!"

"Alright, alright, I'll do next period and show you how it's done." Second period filed in slowly, talking and laughing and not paying much attention to Grover. The bell signaling the start of class rang. "Good morning 2nd period!" They gave me jumbled responses. "This is Mr. Underwood, he's my teacher assistant," Johnny raised his hand, "hold on Johnny. He'll be observing class for the rest of the semester,"

"I thought they only gave old teachers TAs?" Johnny spoke anyway.

"I guess I'm just lucky. Today he'll just be observing as I teach you about mythical creatures."

"You taught us that last semester." Smart ass.

"What's a satyr?"

"A who?"

"Exactly. Since most of you slept through first semester, and any movies with mythology in them, apparently, I have to teach it again." I clicked my SmartBoard.

"Why don't you give us a textbook to study?"

"One- you try to find a decent mythology textbook and two- I give you notes and copies of the power points are available to you and three- you wouldn't use them and I can't stand them. Now, shh. I'm teaching. Take notes, write down what's underlined and underline everything in red." Fifty minutes of doodling later… "There's an open-note quiz on what you wrote down tomorrow! Power point is in the school files if you want to take notes in your dorms." I added on when they groaned. "Hint: the power point is the quiz! If you use your notes you will get a one hundred!" The bell rang and 2nd period left. "I'll have about four one hundreds and five failures- just watch."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes. They can retake anything, challenge their grades, prove me wrong, take verbal quizzes- every kid should have an A."

"Wow. Even you could've aced this class," Grover laughed.

"I know. I designed it that way but whatever. No one is failing." During 4th period, my planning, I worked on Grover's teaching skills while we talked. "So…have you talked to Annabeth lately?" He laughed.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about her."

"It, not her." I said in reference to the break-up. "And that's because I'm sick of other people talking about it."

"It's pretty big around camp. That last summer everyone thought you guys were just in a rough patch, not…over. No one expected that. But, I haven't seen her in awhile. She's crazy busy with her business. That's going great. She's actually designing some city that wants a revamp. Yeah, apparently the old buildings are going to get torn down and some new, Utopia-type thing is going up."

"What about the people that live there?"

"Gradual process."

"Ah. Well good for her." The bell rang. "The kid who skateboards in is Austin." I took my seat on my stool.

"Huh?" Right on cue, my favorite student rolled in.

"Hey Mr. J! Who's the new dude?" Austin stopped in front of Grover.

"I'm Mr. Underwood, I'm the TA."

"Oh. Cool. Hey Mr. J," Austin walked over to me, "do you think you could help me out in English? We're reading the _Odyssey_ and…regular English is hard enough to read."

"You already know that story!"

"I know, but, we have to read out loud and, could you just um, read it with me so I kinda know what to say? I don't wanna look stupid." I laughed.

"Been there. I can't help you though. I'm dyslexic."

"What? No way! You're like, the smartest dude I know!"

"You don't have to be stupid to be dyslexic."

"What's that like?" This was the question I'd been shooting for.

"The letters come up off the page and switch around or look backwards, they go fuzzy."

"I think I'm dyslexic. I mean, my mom always thought so, but she didn't want people to think I was stupid."

"Hm, I got a challenge for you," I went over to my desk and wrote my name in ancient Greek. "Read this."

"Dude it's Greek!" I didn't reply. "Okay, okay. Perseus?"

"Impressive. We need to talk after class," I told him once the bell rang. "Alright kids, this is Mr. Underwood, he's going to teacher you about mythical creatures. Warning Grover, Bella will probably interject, it's what she does but she's usually right. Go for it Grover." I sat back and let him teach, Bella interjecting when I would've. So instead I thought about Austin. How was I going to get him to camp?

"Wassup Mr. J?" Austin stayed behind.

"I can't help you with the reading, but, there's this great summer camp,"

"Oh no!"

"I went there, Grover went, Bella and Jessica go there, it's a camp for…for people like us. It's not a study camp or anything like that. You learn sword fighting and archery- it's a camp to learn how to be a demigod and it's only for kids who have what we call 'the demigod disease'. That's dyslexia that allows you to read ancient Greek and ADHD in one package."

"Are- are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I stopped going a year ago. I'm taking Bella and Jess up there, personal favor to the director, and there's room for one more. It's free. Come on, at least think about it."

"Why should I?"

"You know how you think school doesn't apply to life? Well this will apply to your life. It'll explain Mr. Dupree's disappearance,"

"So I'm not crazy!"

"Not even a little bit. Everything in your life that's been strange, that you couldn't explain, that seemed impossible or crazy- all the answers are there."

"Wow. What's it called?"

"Camp Half-Blood."

"Okay, I'll talk to my Mom. Thanks Mr. Jackson!" Austin rolled away.

"Percy, what's wrong with you?! Why are you stirring him? Do you know how much stronger his scent got?"

"That monster was after him Grover. I'd drag him to camp because if he doesn't get there soon, he'll die. There are other protectors here, which means there are half-bloods, but Dupree went after him, specifically. Two known half bloods didn't even catch his nose." Jessica came running into the room.

"Hi Mr. Jackson! Hey Grover!" She hugged Grover. "What cha doin' here?"

"He's here for Austin. Oh, by the way, Chiron asked me to drive you and Bella to camp. Cool?"

"Yeah! Totally! OMG, Percy Jackson is driving me to camp!" Gods help me.

* * *

Would you have guessed?! So, now we're going back to camp, but wait! There's more... and Annabeth comes soon guys, I swear


	3. Chapter 3

Here's 3! Hopefully you got past any filler in the previous chapter and will enjoy this one. Also, Piper randomly pops in, FYI

Recap: Austin and Percy are on the way to Camp Half-Blood

* * *

So I got Austin to come along and on the last day the three heroes were packing their things into my mustang. "Are we ready?" Grover had gone off to do his 'Lord of the Wild' stuff and I made all three sit in the back, just because. It was a roomy backseat though.

"Ready!" They chorused excitedly. I put on my sunglasses.

"WAIT!" No. No way. She _was not _ here. I looked in the rearview mirror. Annabeth. "Wait! Percy, Chiron said you were going and I really need a ride. Mind if I come with?"

"Sure, come on. Why are you going?"

"I need a vacation, and there's no better place than Camp!" I would've scoffed at anyone else, but Camp Half-Blood had been her home, it was where she grew up.

"Chiron?" Austin questioned.

"He doesn't know?" Jessica replied as Annabeth shoved her suitcase in my car.

"What?"

"I might've left some stuff out of my camp description, but you'll understand when we get there." I told him assuredly. "Trust me, it's the safest place you'll ever be." Annabeth got in.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Then let's go!" I put the pedal to the metal and we reached Half-Blood Hill in an awkward hour.

"Hey! You're Annabeth Chase!" Jessica realized. "You're like, one of the greatest female heroes ever!" Annabeth laughed.

"I'm sure that's not true, but thank-you."

"Hero?" Austin questioned.

"And you rebuilt Olympus! It's amazing!" Now she was blushing.

"Olympus? Mr. Jackson, what's going on?"

"Mr. Jackson? Oh, he must be one of your students. Why is he so confused? He knows you're going to camp, right?"

"All three are my students and he knows where, not why." I had really hoped to avoid this.

"Because I'm dyslexic and ADHD (probably) and can read ancient Greek- right?"

"Right Austin. Don't worry, it'll all make sense when we get there. It's a really cool place." From that point on Austin was very uneasy and I had a funny feeling he thought we were all crazy. I was a little nervous about driving all these half-bloods that far though. The first three, fine, they were young and unrealized, but add Annabeth, and powerful demigod who reactivated my hero senses and you had an even stronger smelling Big Three, a tasty powerful half-blood, and three young ones. That could attract some monsters. Possibly serious ones and I really didn't feel like fighting the Minotaur for the third time.

Luckily, my worries were unnecessary and we pulled into camp safely. I parked my car and Jessica and Bella ran off to their respective cabins while Annabeth, Austin and I went to the Big House. We found Chiron and Mr. D in their usual positions of pinochle. "Oh no, the Dream Team is back and they've brought someone new," Mr. D belched as he put down his diet coke.

"You must be Austin," Chiron rolled over to Austin with a smile.

"What is this place?"

"A place for children like you: half-bloods."

"Half-bloods?"

"Percy," Chiron sighed, "you didn't explain it to him?"

"I didn't know how! I figured you'd be better at that. Bella and Jess went to their cabins, by the way."

"Good, good. Annabeth, you can pick a room upstairs, I suppose you don't want to go back to your old cabin."

"Thanks Chiron," Annabeth hugged the trainer of heroes. "Hello Mr. D."

"Percy, you can go as well. I suspect Mr. Austin will want a word with you after the introduction video." I nodded and followed Annabeth.

"So, your students? What do you teach?" Annabeth tried to make conversation.

"Classical Mythology." She laughed. "Well, I never really knew what I wanted to do, so much of my life was staying alive and saving the world and…and school." I almost said 'and you' but she hadn't meant _that_ much to me, had she? I couldn't remember. "So I held on to the school part. What about you? I hear you're redesigning some city."

"Yeah, I am. The mayor is a half-blood and he saw my Olympus at the opening…" I nodded, remembering. We'd broken up pretty soon after that. I remembered I was going to ask her to marry me that night when something made me stop. I started hearing the voice then.

"It really is fantastic." Our conversation lagged and I picked a random room I was standing in front of. Annabeth did the same. The video had taken Nico about a half hour so I unpacked and went back down to the porch. "Where's Austin?"

"He's sitting by the lake." Chiron told me. I nodded and walked over to the new half-blood. "Austin?"

"You lied." Austin said without looking at me. "You said I was safe here."

"You _are_ safe here."

"Why didn't you tell me everything?"

"If I had, would you have come?" He didn't answer. "No, you would've called me crazy and I would've had to prove it by dragging you here. Look, I know it's confusing. And scary. You wonder, why didn't anyone tell me before, did my mom know, why me?"

"Did she know?"

"Probably not. When gods tell their lovers who they are…they tend to go crazy. My mother knew, and it ruined twelve years of her life because she had to spend it with the most disgusting person I've ever met, just to protect me. Several of my friends' mothers went literally insane, became drunks- it's never good. When they know, you smell more like a half-blood to the monsters. That's why I had to get you here. Mr. Dupree was a monster who wanted to _eat_ you. Here, you'll learn how to be a great hero." Austin looked at me for the first time.

"Like you?" My face hardened.

"Pray to the gods that your epic will _never_ read like mine."

"Why not? You're famous around here- aren't you?!" I didn't know what to say.

"I almost died at least one hundred times, Austin. Quests are one thing, going on missions for the gods. But saving the world…"I shook my head, "I still have nightmares about some of the things I saw." We were quiet for a minute. "But! Being a hero does have its perks. Come on, I'll show you around camp!" I showed him the strawberry fields, the forest, the mess, the arts & crafts center ("Arts and crafts?" "Well it is still a camp."), the lava climbing wall, archery, the amphitheatre, the cabins and finally, the arena. "Now this, was always my second favorite place. I'm not good at much of the other stuff but swordsmanship- I'm the best here."

"Hey, what about all those magical creatures?"

"The stables! My third favorite place! Oh man, hold on, I gotta get some sugar cubes for Blackjack!"

"You have a horse?" We went to the stables. "A Pegasus. Oh." _Yo Boss! Long time no see! _"Oh my God! It talks!"

"You can hear him?" No way. _Ay, Boss, you brought Boss #2?_ "Holy crap."

"What? Only you could hear him talk?"

"Well him, and horses, and water creatures alike. Because, previously, I was the only child of Poseidon."

"Wait, are you saying my Dad's Poseidon?! That's so cool! He's my favorite god!"

"I'm saying almost 100% for sure. He'll probably claim you tonight, at the campfire."

"So, that would make you my brother?"

"Yeah. I guess it would."

"Does this mean I get to call you Percy?" Austin was grinning now. I laughed.

"Sure. Why not? You'll still have to call me Mr. Jackson in school though. Come on, until you're officially claimed you'll be in the cabin for unclaimed kids. Let's move you in." I have a little brother. Cool. I guess Dad really wasn't kidding when he talked about sending my siblings. But- but he didn't. Austin stayed under the radar for years! It had been, what- 6, 7 years since all demigods had to be claimed by thirteen. Why had he left Austin to the wayside?

At the campfire, a trident appeared over my brother's head. Everyone cheered for him, which was a much better welcome than I'd received. Still, I was a little sad to know he'd be alone, just like I had. But, apparently, Rachel had something to say about that. Hermes sent a message through he saying that Austin was allowed to join the Hermes table for meals if he so chose. Not fair. Then it turned funny because Apollo cut off Hermes and said "who said you could use my oracle?!"

"Shut up Sunny! I was just trying to do something nice for the new Son of Poseidon!"

"There's a new Son of Poseidon? When? Nobody tells me anything!"

"I thought you were the all-seeing Sun-slash-God-of-the-All-Seeing-Oracle!"

"I only see all during the day! Arty knows everything at night!"

"What are you two doing on this channel?!" Aphrodite's voice demanded. "Get off and leave that poor Oracle alone! I'm trying to watch Camp!" What? "Not Camp Half-Blood sweeties! A different show that the Oracle interrupts when she talks and now those two bone-heads are interrupting! GO AWAY!"

"NO!" The two gods chorused. "Oh, and that went for you two Percy!" Hermes informed me.

"OUT OF THE ORACLE NOW!" Rachel went limp. I rushed over to her.

"Are you okay? Rachel!" She groaned.

"That wasn't fun. Oh, hi Percy! When'd you get here?" I laughed again.

"Hi Rachel." Two more kids got claimed, although none got special privileges. I helped Austin settle in to his cabin, feeling a certain sense of responsibility.

"You're staying in the Big House, right?" I nodded. "Cool. G'night Percy."

"Sleep good Austin, because tomorrow, I start your training." I left the cabin (memories of Annabeth and I breaking a lot of rules in there following me) and went to the beach. Right on cue, Dad showed up.

"Dad!" I hadn't expected him. "Why did you leave Austin there, unclaimed and untrained?"

"Percy," he sighed, "it's not that simple. When he was born I'd broken the Pact and…and I wasn't entirely sure he was my son."

"Dad!"

"I'm just being honest. And I didn't just leave him there. Do you think it was a coincidence that you got a job at his school and he took your class?"

"So you sent me to him?" Dad nodded.

"I knew you would protect him. And, can you really blame me for leaving him alone while his scent was weak? He's one of the few demigods that led an almost completely mortal childhood." I shrugged. "I trust you'll train him right, make sure he's ready."

"Ready for what?" I asked, my voice laced with suspicion.

"Big Three children never have it easy. You and Jason had it more difficult than most, perhaps, but Austin will have trials of his own." I sighed.

"Hey, Dad, do you know who's been talking to me…in my head? I was hearing voices a couple of years ago and at the time I thought it was just me, but now…" His eyes darkened.

"What did these voices tell you?"

"They told me to break-up with Annabeth. It wasn't a voice I recognized."

"I must go, I have questions to ask." In a flash of light, he was gone. Wow, I thought, a whole five minutes this time. One day we might have a whole conversation. I realized that I wasn't being fair, but I didn't care. I needed to go get some sleep.

I walked down the hall to my bedroom and saw Annabeth's room door cracked open. I couldn't help myself- I peaked. She was lying there, sleeping peacefully and I wondered: how different would everything be right now if I'd ignored that voice and asked her to marry me? _Stop it Percy,_ I chided myself. You broke up, it's over, and she heard it too. It wasn't just you. I stepped away from the door and went to my own room. "It's over," I muttered over and over again, trying to get the image of her asleep out of my head. Still, I couldn't ignore the fact that my whole world was waking up and I hadn't even known it was asleep. _That's stupid. You're world wasn't asleep, it was just mortal._

"The first thing we need to do is get you suited up. That means armor, weapon, shield- the whole thing." Austin and I were standing in the area. I hadn't bothered to wear my armor. I did, however have Riptide. I led him into the armory. "You look like a six," I noted.

"No way, I'm definitely a 8."

"Only Ares kids wear size eight armor." I replied.

"Oh. I thought you meant…"

"You're not talking about that stupid rating thing you guys do in class, are you?" I groaned.

"Sorry! So, bronze armor, cool. Doesn't iron, like, kick bronze's ass?"

"Bronze beats monsters and its lighter. Here we go," I pulled out a chest plate. "Put this on." Austin wormed his way into the armor. "Looks good."

"It weighs a ton! I thought this was lighter than iron!"

"It is. Here's your helmet." I tossed him a matching helmet. "This is really nice armor. I think I might have to get Leo to make me some." Austin put on the legs and arms.

"Do you really fight in full armor?"

"If we're going into battle. In training its usually just breastplates. Most of the time though, out in the world, they catch you by surprise. Now, a sword. Actually, do you want a sword, a dagger, or a bow and arrow? You really should learn all three but"

"Can I have all three?!" Austin asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Let's start with a sword then." I grabbed a six sword for him, but it was too heavy. We went through each standard size of blade in the armory, and none of them worked. "Hm, you'll need something specialized. For now let's stick with the five, it was the closest. Come on, I'm going to teach you how to use a sword. Take all the leg and arm stuff off. You'll need if for Capture the Flag but right now you're just learning the basics." We walked back out to the arena.

"Hey. Where's your sword?" I showed Austin my pen. "That's a…sword. Whoa. I want one!" his amusement at the Mist around Riptide was funny.

"You might get your own magical weapon one day. But that doesn't matter right now. Stand up straight, feet apart- not that far, shoulders back." I spent an hour making sure Austin had his stance right and getting him used to keeping it- more or less- throughout other movements. Suddenly I heard gravel crunch, my senses peaked. I turned and swung, Riptide meeting stygian ice. "Nico," I smirked, "what brings you down here?"

"I heard you were down here. Just came to say hi."

"And attack." He shrugged.

"I wanted to see if you were out of practice."

"In or out, I could still kick your sorry butt."

"Oh really? Austin, want to see your brother eat his words?"

"Yes!" I knew he just wanted to see a fight. Unlike most demigods he hadn't encountered anything like monsters or sword fights.

"Go sit in the stands Austin." He ran to take a seat eagerly. "Ready," I took my stance.

"Get set," Nico mirrored my grin. This was going to be fun.

"GO!" Our duel began. I hadn't fought Nico in years; I'd forgotten how challenging of a foe he made. I parried, he stabbed, I swiped, he rolled. It was the most intense fight I'd had in awhile, and it was amazing. Finally he knocked me to the ground but before he was able to pose for a "fatal" (since there was only one way to kill me in a fight) blow I kicked him and before he had a chance to realize he'd it the ground my sword was at his throat.

"WHOA! I MEAN I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE COOL BUT DAMN!" Austin came running at us. "When am I gonna be good enough to do that?"

"A couple of years."

"Seriously?" He groaned as I helped Nico up. "But that's forever! What if we practiced at school?!"

"One step at a time kiddo. Let's make sure you can maneuver a sword before we start dueling. Get your armor and take it back to your cabin. Meet me at the lake." I didn't leave till Austin was long gone, I didn't want him to see me limp.

"Ah ha! You are out of shape!"

"Shut up Nico," I laughed in spite of myself. If I were still with Annabeth I wouldn't be out of shape. Most of our dates went: walk to movies, meet monster, watch movie, walk to restaurant, meet monster, eat, meet monster on way home.

"Why did you break-up anyway?"

"Did I just say what I thought about our dates out loud?"

"Yes."

"Oops."

* * *

What is happening with Percy and Annabeth?! Holy Crap! Review?


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